The Unwanted Gift
by GlassRoses
Summary: The Others Season 1: Marian finds that she has powers beyond her control, and with the help of a group called The Others, she may be able to learn to use her gift of seeing the dead.


**The Others**

**Based on the NBC series The Others, 2000**

**These characters are all based on the original series, and the material for the show as well as parts of the episodes are not mine in any way, and I do not claim to know all about the show.**

**1**

**Marian sat at the table of a nice outside restaurant across from her date, Jim. She thought for a moment about the things she could tell him about her life. She could tell him about how she fell of her bike as a kid and nearly broke her arm, she could tell him about the time when she punched the meanest kid in school in the nose, or she could rattle on about the awards she achieved for being such a great student. There were many things she could tell him, but there were things she couldn't tell him, things she kept hidden from the world. She could not tell him she went into detailed conversations with her dead grandmother as a child, she could not tell him she sometimes channeled the dead, and she could not tell him that she could see his dead girlfriend standing behind him in a white robe. **

**Jim continued with his story, "So I told the man that there was no way I was going down that dark tunnel, and he told me that it was alright because he always kept a flashlight handy!"**

**Marian laughed, even though she was uncomfortable by the ghost standing ahead of her. Jim laughed too, completely unaware of the presence just behind him. Marian couldn't believe how most of the world could not see the people standing around them at all times. She didn't understand why he couldn't feel someone he was so attached to when she was alive. The ghost of his dead girlfriend, her long blond hair flowing in the slight breeze, said to Marian in an echoing voice, "Tell him."**

**Marian looked at her, then looked back at Jim. Marian felt it was a silly request, something that Jim would find suspicious and he would most likely walk away from her thinking that she was some kind of a nut job. Maybe she could phrase it in a way that he could understand. She suddenly asked him, "Do you like the Dallas Cowboys?"**

"**I can't believe you just mentioned that! I love them!" Jim smiled.**

"**I bet you watched every game they ever played, right?" Marian asked.**

**Something came over Jim at that moment. He seemed to go into a state of remembrance, where nothing could stop him otherwise. He said to her, "I used to watch every game, but sometimes I would miss them, for my girlfriend. She liked to watch a different show that I hated, but I let her watch it anyway, just because it meant so much to her. She died last year, in a car accident."**

**Marian saw that the time was right. She mentioned, "I bet she really appreciated that you did that for her."**

**Relief came over the face of the ghost. Jim smiled and said, "Yeah, I never told her this, but I would've done anything for her. Carey was the love of my life."**

**Carey smiled and started to walk away. Marian could see that the back of Carey's head was split open, like she had been hit by something that had exposed her brain. That's how Marian usually saw them. She smiled at Jim, and he told her, "I think it's getting late. I should take you home."**

**Once they were at her house, Marian went up to the door. She turned around and said, "Thank you."**

"**For what?"Jim asked.**

"**For a lovely night," Marian answered.**

"**Would you like me to join you tonight?" Jim asked.**

**Marian thought of the offer, but declined, saying, "No thanks, I would rather be alone."**

**Jim smiled and turned away, going back to his truck. Marian went inside of her apartment and shut the door. She went straight to bed, got under the covers, and for a moment, she looked around. All she could see were people of all ages, races, shapes and sizes standing around her room. She didn't know any of them, nor did she know why they were standing at the edge of her bed, but they were there, staring at her. She turned out the light and went to sleep, trying to forget the powers that she had, the ones that she never wanted in the first place.**


End file.
